Cheddar for iOS: to-do lists and markdown wherever you go

Task manager apps are nothing new to smartphones. With veterans like OmniFocus and Evernote grabbing the top spots, and Things, Any.DO, and Apple's own Reminders bringing up the rear, you'd think the space was pretty much full. But newcomer Cheddar aims to take a piece of the pie for itself. It doesn't aim for the complicated productivity features inherent to apps like Omnifocus, and it doesn't sacrifice syncing for innovative design like Clear. Cheddar's niche: simplicity.

Cheddar's layout is similar to other to-do list apps, but its design and style is what separates it from the rest of the crowd. The UI is well thought-out, from the soft shades of blue and orange to the typography provided by Hoefler & Frere-Jones. I found myself entering tasks I knew I'd never finish (I've never written a novel, much less autographed one) just to see how pretty they would look. I italicized words that needed no differentiation, placed hashtags on items that required no organizational structure. I thoroughly enjoyed planning an entire weekend with links and bold text.

But when I decided to clean my slate, I was faced with an unwelcome realization. Once a task is created, it can never actually be deleted. And although Cheddar allows for tasks to be archived, you cannot see or unarchive them once that choice has been made. I often look at old tasks I've done as a reference point when they relate to certain projects, so this is a major sticking point for me. It seemed as though my piece of autographed fiction was to forever remain in Cheddar, seen or unseen.

Cheddar's beautiful design makes me want eggs benedict every day.

Patrick Austin

On the upside, syncing in Cheddar is instantaneous. After entrusting it with my breakfast plans, the task showed up in Cheddar's Web interface before I looked up from my iPhone. I tried again, this time holding my phone to my laptop so I could watch it sync in under a second. Ubiquity seems to be Cheddar's aim, at least for the Apple-friendly—while there are currently no plans for an Android app, an alpha version of Cheddar for Mac is on the way in a few weeks. "It will be closer to the look of the iPad app than the Web. It will definitely be all native and not just a Web wrapper," Sam Soffes, former lead developer at Hipstamatic and now lead developer for Cheddar, told Ars. A Cheddar API is also launching "very, very soon" allowing developers to create their own apps for whichever platform they choose.

Markdown support is a differentiator in the space as well. Cheddar boasts support for the "span-level" elements of Markdown, which includes links, code, emphasis, italics, and hashtag support. But hashtagging items, a personal pastime of mine, had a very confusing implementation. Tasks with the same hashtags in different lists didn't show up when sorted, relegating them to their own list silos.

Additionally, I found the Markdown entry to be a chore on iOS. Entering tasks quickly, a tenet of almost every task manager, was slowed by accessing the secondary and sometimes tertiary keyboard. I spent half the time pecking at characters I barely used. An appended row of keys for easier Markdown typing is in the works, says Soffes.

Cheddar isn't optimized for Markdown input, but it's in the works.

Patrick Austin

There are ways to upgrade Cheddar, too. Cheddar Plus is an in-app purchase that allows you to create more than two lists of tasks. At $5.99 for three months, $9.99 for six, and $19.99 for a year, it does seem a tad pricey. But with Cheddar's claim that it will eventually be your go-to task manager on any platform, I might consider a three-month trial once more features have been added. (Soffes promises "more in the pipeline to make Cheddar Plus more valuable.") In the meantime, I would probably hold off, given Cheddar's current limitations.

In its current iteration, Cheddar seems to be an exercise in creating a beautiful to-do list app rather than a functional one. Markdown support, instantaneous syncing with the Web and (future) Mac client, and a beautiful UI give it an edge compared to other task managers. But with important features missing such as task deletion, simpler Markdown entry, and archive view, Cheddar's "ready, fire, aim" approach isn't doing itself or its users any favors. And after a few days of use, it's clear that this is a task manager that's wet behind the ears.

Still, I'm not giving up entirely on Cheddar—I'm just eagerly awaiting another taste after it ages.

Why does it have Markdown at all? Automatically handle @patbits and #books and replace pasted URLs with the title of the page, then get out of my way. I'm trying to get things done, not make pretty lists.

I have used Leaf Notes for a while and it does everything that I want. It is way cheaper than Cheddar ($1) and is very stable. I would strongly recommend it for anyone who doesn't want to spend so much money on a basic task manager.

If, like me, your task requirements are fairly basis but require synchronisation with Gmail, then take a look at GoTasks (free).

My only complaint is that you cannot see the tasks within your calendar - but this is probably more a Gmail issue than an app issue and could be easily resolved if Google allows you to have an ical feed of your tasks.

I've my Gmail tab open almost 80% of the working day, and the ability to just "click, type, move on" for something I need to remember to do is just perfect.

The other 20% is where GoTasks comes in, if I think of something as I'm away from the main computer, just open it on the iPhone, tap, enter move on - and I know when I get back to the computer later it'll be on my screen as a reminder.

If, like me, your task requirements are fairly basis but require synchronisation with Gmail, then take a look at GoTasks (free).

My only complaint is that you cannot see the tasks within your calendar - but this is probably more a Gmail issue than an app issue and could be easily resolved if Google allows you to have an ical feed of your tasks.

Which is why I don't use Apple's iCal. Instead I use Google's calendar in addition to their basic-but-adequet task lists. For iOS, I happen to use CalenGoo and GeeTasks, but there are others that offer similar capabilites. No bold texting, but they're free/cheap, they work, and being Google you have access to your calendar/task list from any computer/OS.

It's definitely a basis for improvement. It will gain a fan base that will see it "mature" (get it?!) and hopefully we will see it gain deleting and due dates. It's syncing is great (provided by http://pusher.com/) and its design is smart.

If, like me, your task requirements are fairly basis but require synchronisation with Gmail, then take a look at GoTasks (free).

My only complaint is that you cannot see the tasks within your calendar - but this is probably more a Gmail issue than an app issue and could be easily resolved if Google allows you to have an ical feed of your tasks.

Which is why I don't use Apple's iCal. Instead I use Google's calendar in addition to their basic-but-adequet task lists.

BUT BUT BUT they still have *not* got cloud syncing released yet!! They've only promised it for a YEAR now, and it's still not sodding well released yet. (I'm still having to use Bonjour Wi-Fi Mac-to-iPhone syncing.)

Now, being a German company, you could put this down to typically teutonic decent quality beta testing. (laughs.)

Me, I put it down to just plainly being EMBARRASSINGLY SLOW!! Get on with it Things devs!!

FFS, how long do you actually need to get cloud syncing working, when a gazillion other apps have managed to get it working within a couple of months. Bad, really bad.

...Oh, the only good 'thing' it has going for it, is the cloud syncing will be FREE apparently (if it ever arrives that is). Which sounds good, but how are they going to make any money unless they force every current user to pay for three new "Things 2" apps (one each for Mac, iPhone, iPad = circa $50! —still cheaper then the ever rip-off OmniFocus trio— oh goody!).

BUT BUT BUT they still have *not* got cloud syncing released yet!! They've only promised it for a YEAR now, and it's still not sodding well released yet. (I'm still having to use Bonjour Wi-Fi Mac-to-iPhone syncing.)

Now, being a German company, you could put this down to typically teutonic decent quality beta testing. (laughs.)

Me, I put it down to just plainly being EMBARRASSINGLY SLOW!! Get on with it Things devs!!

FFS, how long do you actually need to get cloud syncing working, when a gazillion other apps have managed to get it working within a couple of months. Bad, really bad.

...Oh, the only good 'thing' it has going for it, is the cloud syncing will be FREE apparently (if it ever arrives that is). Which sounds good, but how are they going to make any money unless they force every current user to pay for three new "Things 2" apps (one each for Mac, iPhone, iPad = circa $50! —still cheaper then the ever rip-off OmniFocus trio— oh goody!).

Things is great but I gave up on waiting for cloud syncing, now I just have everything sync with the built in reminders and all of my things installs stay synced and I don't have to open and close them like with dropbox. So I can make things reminders with Siri on the go or with things on any device.